Tuesday, 20 March 2018

Is it the chief’s doctrine? Zahid Hussain

MYTHS are often woven around men in power. Now we hear about a
‘Bajwa doctrine’ — a term used by some media circles and, indeed, by the ISPR chief
himself in an interview with a TV channel. Going by this
so-called doctrine, it would seem that the army chief has a grand vision about
everything — from critical political problems to the economy and foreign
policy. Should we be surprised? Not really. Didn’t we witness similar wisdom
being attributed to previous army chiefs?

But the virtues ascribed to Gen Qamar Bajwa make him appear head
and shoulder above his predecessors; a messiah the country has long been
waiting for. If media circles are to be believed, the so-called doctrine
promises to bring about a revolutionary change in foreign policy, making a
clean break from the ‘chauvinistic’ approach of the past 70 years. This is
quite amazing.

According to this ‘doctrine’, the general envisions better
relations with neighbouring countries and balance in dealing with world powers.
Violent extremism is certainly not acceptable but the mainstreaming of tamed
jihadists is important under the perceived doctrine.

The truth is that the general was reflecting the thinking of his
institution.

While being portrayed as ‘pro democracy’ and a staunch supporter
of the rule of law, the general appears unhappy about the way our political
system works, lamenting the 18th Amendment in the Constitution that, he
believes, has turned the country into a confederation. His greatest concern
appears to be economic policy mismanagement that is seen as having brought
Pakistan to the brink of bankruptcy. Lavish infrastructural projects such as
motorways and metro buses, that bear the stamp of the PML-N government, are
perceived as a massive drain on the economy as is the Benazir Income Support
Programme.

Indeed, in a recent interaction with a group of journalists, the
army chief did articulate all that which is is now being hailed as a grand
‘doctrine’ for change. The truth is that the general was reflecting the
thinking of his institution — that must not be projected as his own vision. One
may agree with his (or rather the army’s) identification of the problems we
face, but the solutions to critical political and economic issues are overly
simplistic.

Successive military rulers seized
power on the pretext of turning things around and fixing problems but they
ended up leaving the country in the same mess if not worse. Similarly, while
there may be little doubt regarding the expressed intentions, the views
enunciated on the political situation, economy and other issues have exposed
the widening cleavage between the elected civilian government and the security
establishment that has strengthened multiple power centres.

While generals do not seek to
take over power, some feel that is the easiest thing to do in a crisis
situation. They do not want to give a free hand to elected civilians either.
Distrust of politicians remains palpable, though there is no reason to doubt
that the general elections will be held.

But if recent elections for Senate
chairmanship are an indicator, there’s no way Nawaz Sharif and his cohorts will
be allowed space in the future political power structure. The long shadow of
the military, in a nexus with the judiciary, will hover over the emerging
political setup. It is apparent that most of the country’s law-enforcement and
investigative agencies are already operating under the watch of the security
establishment.

What is most alarming, however,
is the military’s adverse view of the 18th Amendment. The landmark legislation
that has lent greater autonomy to the provinces was passed unanimously by
parliament with all major political parties on board. Indeed, some provinces
have experienced capacity problems in the discharge of their responsibilities.
But that can be resolved in due process.

More importantly, the amendment
has strengthened the federation and removed a perpetual source of friction
between the centre and the provinces. The unitary form of government and
concentration of power at the centre had created serious anomalies particularly
for the smaller provinces. Indeed, there is a need for a unified education
system in the country and for streamlining provincial laws. But any attempt to
strike down the amendment — that could only be through unconstitutional means —
would be disastrous.

True, the economy is in bad
shape, and former finance minister Ishaq Dar, now implicated in graft charges,
was largely responsible for financial mismanagement. The crisis has been
brewing for a while, made worse by the deterioration of foreign exchange
reserves. And yet, the situation is not irreversible.

The so-called Bajwa doctrine
cannot provide an instant solution to the crisis. The economy is critical to
national security but equally important is the continuation of the democratic
process, however flawed. Economic progress is also linked to political
stability. And military rule, too, does not have any enviable economic record.

It is evident that foreign and
national security policies have largely remained within the security establishment’s
domain. One cannot agree more with Gen Bajwa’s words that there is a need for
improving ties with our neighbours. It is also true that a significant
breakthrough has been made in ties with Afghanistan. But our foreign policy
challenges are enormous. Most stem from our skewed security-centric policy for
which the military leadership is largely to be blamed. It is the era of
geo-economics, and to have a dynamic foreign policy it is imperative we focus
more on widening trade and economic relations with neighbouring countries
including India.

Indeed, we have done well to
fight militancy and restore the state’s writ in the tribal areas, but there is
still no clear strategy to deal with violent religious extremism that presents
an existentialist threat.

More must be done to bridge the
gap between the civil and military leadership on key foreign policy issues
rather than presenting an alternative ‘doctrine’ on wide-ranging domestic and
foreign policy issues. Unfortunately, we don’t have a national narrative on
anything. The so-called Bajwa doctrine then is more institutional thinking than
one man’s views.The writer is an author and journalist.zhussain100@yahoo.com
Twitter: @hidhussain

About Me

Dr Shabir Choudhry has done extensive research on the issue of Kashmir and Indo Pakistan relations. He passed BA Honours in Politics and History, and Mphil in International Relations (title of the thesis, ‘Kashmir and Partition of India’); and title of his PhD thesis is ‘Kashmir- An issue of a nation not a dispute of a land’.

Apart from this Dr Shabir Choudhry passed Post Graduates Certificates in Education, and NVQ Assessor’s qualifications; and taught English in London.

Political Achievements

Founder member of JKLF (Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front established in 1977) and got elected as a Press Secretary in 1984.

Became its Secretary General in 1985, and resigned from this post in 1996.

Got elected President of JKLF and Europe in May 1999, and decided not to contest in elections of July 2001.

Said good - bye to the JKLF as it is in many groups and is largely seen as advancing a Pakistani agenda on Kashmir dispute, and set up a new party Kashmir National Party in May 2008.

.

At present, he is:

·Spokesman Kashmir National Party and Director Diplomatic Committee;

·Spokesman for International KashmirAlliance;

·Founder member and Director Institute of Kashmir Affairs;

Previously

·A founder Member and Trustee/ Director of London based registered charity, Kashmir Foundation International and resigned from this position in August 2001.

·Regularly take part in the Sessions of the UN Human Rights (Commission) now Council in Geneva; and address various conferences and seminars to oppose violence and highlight the Kashmir cause.

·Participated in a Round Table Conference on Kashmir, organised by Socialist Group of European Parliament in Brussels in 1993.

·Addressed as a Chief Guest in a seminar on issue of Mangla Dam during the UN Sub Commission’s proceedings in August 2003.

·Addressed as a key - note speaker in a seminar on the issue of Gilgit and Baltistan, organised by Association of British Kashmiris.

·Addressed as a keynote speaker on human rights conference in Paris in 1991.

·Addressed at CambridgeUniversity as a Chief Guest in a conference on Kashmir in 1990.

·Addressed as a keynote speaker at New Delhi conference on Kashmir, which was part of Track Two diplomacy in November 2000.

·In September 2008, addressed a Conference arranged by Interfaith International in Geneva, topic of which was:“Kashmir Issue, Terrorism and Human Rights”.

·Addressed as a speaker in a NGO Conference on Self - Determination in Geneva in August 2000.

·Addressed as a keynote speaker in a fringe meeting of Liberal Democrats at their Annual Conference in Brighton in 1995.

·Participated in World Human Rights Conference in Vienna in 1993.

·Before President Clinton's visit to India and Pakistan in 2000, lead a JKLF delegation to the State Department to discuss Kashmir dispute and situation in South Asia.

·Also had two rounds of meetings with senior State Department officials before President Musharraf’s meeting to Washington in June 2003.

·Apart from that had meetings with senior officials including Ministers of different countries, and also held many meetings with the State Department and Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials on number of occasions.

·Played important role in advancing a Kashmiri perspective on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir; and also helped Baroness Emma Nicholson with her report ‘Kashmir: present situation and future prospects’, which was adopted by the European Parliament in May 2007.

·Won first prize in an essay competition in Urdu in 1976. It was organised by High Commission of Pakistan in London, and title of the essay was 'Qaaid-e- Azam's role in Islamic History'.

·Apart from that have addressed conferences in Brussels, Geneva, Toronto, Islamabad, Delhi, and

Publications

·Got first Urdu novel ‘Fareena’ published at the age of eighteen.

·Second Urdu novel ‘Bay-Khataa’ which was about the problems of Asian youths living in UK published in 1983.

·Third Urdu book ‘Pakistan and Kashmiri struggle for independence’ published in 1990.

·Fourth Urdu book is also on Kashmiri struggle, 'Is an independent Kashmir a conspiracy?'

·Apart from that has twenty books and booklets published in English on various aspects of the Kashmiri struggle.

·Recent publications are: Kashmir dispute as I see it

·Different perspective on Kashmir

·JKLF visit to Pakistan Administered Kashmir

·Kashmir Needs Change of Heart

·If not self - determination then what?

·Emma Nicholson report- who has won?

·Struggle for independence, Jihad or proxy war (Introduction by Baroness Emma Nicholson)

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Future publications

Following books were completed some time ago and shall be published in near future:

In Search of Freedom - My visit to Srinagar and Islamabad

Kashmir and Partition of India

A brief background

Dr Shabir Choudhry was born in a small village called Nakker Shimali (near Panjeri) in District Bhimber, Azad Kashmir. He went to UK in 1966, and like other people from the region, holds a dual nationality. He left secondary school in 1970 with no qualifications and began his life as a textile worker.

In 1975 he started part time studies and passed Matriculation from Government High School Panjeri, passed ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels from UK, and resumed full time degree course in 1981, and passed BA (Hons) in Politics and History in 1984.

He continued full time and part time jobs until he got his Mphil. He passed his PGCE (Post Graduates Certificate in Education) in 1990, and then started full time job as a Lecturer. Due to health problems he resigned from teaching in 1999. At present he is self - employed, provides private tuition, translation and interpretation and consultancy.

Through out his adult life he has actively worked for the cause of Kashmir, and even during long illness he effectively carried out his responsibilities as a leader of the JKLF, a ‘prolific writer’ and consistent campaigner of Rights Movement and peace in Jammu and Kashmir and South Asia.